Day 15: Covenants of Salt
Read: 2 Chronicles 13:5, Matthew 5:13 (Read 5:1-12 first), Colossians 4:2-6
Most people like salt. Men have a bad habit of adding it to their meals
before they have even tasted the food. We use salt today mostly to
enhance the flavor of our foods. Just the right amount of saltiness to
our food makes for a great meal. Watch any cooking show on the Food
Channel and the best chefs in the world are using it to create
magnificent dishes that most of us cannot even pronounce using recipes
and ingredients that we would probably never think would go together
quite that way.
In the Bible and even to today, salt was and
is of the utmost importance. It the hot middle eastern culture it was
essential to staying alive. It was used to preserve all the food staples
- meat, fish, grains so on (remember, they had no refrigerators.) The
food endured for a very long time. Salt exchanged between two people
meant an enduring and lasting bond of friendship. With God it represents
His eternal purity.
But why a covenant? A covenant is a
binding agreement between two parties. God made an eternal covenant
agreement with David, that his family would rule Israel forever. That
covenant was bound and sealed in salt and fulfilled in Jesus Christ.
But what is Jesus saying 'You are like the salt of the earth?' It is
our job description as the Body of Christ in world. Discipline and live
our lives in the shadow the great message of the Beatitudes. To go into
our homes, into our communities, with our families, with our friends and
sometimes strangers, and come along side of them when the taste of the
saltiness of their lives diminishes or has already diminished. Jesus is
telling us to enter into our communities and be living Covenants of
Salt.
As Paul admonishes in Colossians, to come along side of
others in need through bonds of enduring friendship, with prayer and
words that offer comfort and hope. Words that build up faith adds the
salt to their lives. The saltiness of our lives, strong faith, lives of
prayer and devotion can become the enduring preservative for others in the relationship with Jesus Christ.
Let us Pray: Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you the important role
you serve in the lives of others in need. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal
to you someone who needs a friend or an encouraging word. Ask the Holy
Spirit to guide your steps to their side.
Ask the Holy Spirit to give to you the right words and the courage to share them.
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Jami Smith sings "Salt and Light" along with the HHBC choir & praise band
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Jami sings "Salt and Light". Worship leader Jami Smith enjoyed a Sunday morning service with
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